Rumours
by Leni
Summary: ONE-shot. "He was tired of everyone assuming that Kagome was his woman."


Written for the Summer Challenge at the 'InuYasha' Fanfiction Community. (livejournal/ community/ inuyasha-fanfic)

_**DISCLAIMER:** They belong to that nice lady who also created Ranma 1 1/2. This is one of those 'when I'm older I want to be' moments, you know?  
**DISTRIBUTION:** If you like it, you have it. Just let me know.  
**GENRE:** Character Study. With a bit of Romance  
**PAIRINGS:** Kag/Inu with a bitty bit of Kik/In. But mostly just Inuyasha.  
**SUMMARY:** "He was tired of everyone assuming that Kagome was his woman"  
**RATING:** PG-13 for one word._

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**_RUMOURS_ **

_By Leni_

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He was tired of everyone assuming that Kagome was his woman. In the few months they'd travelled together the rumours had grown in size and absurdity. When had people decided to spend their free time studying them?  
  
Everyone who crossed their paths seemed to believe he and Kagome were a couple. It only made things more difficult. Handling Kouga would have been so much easier if the wolf wasn't set on challenging Inuyasha's supposed claim. But he was obligated to respond to that challenge, otherwise Kouga _would_ take Kagome away. Yet that girl didn't seem to grasp that simple concept. She still thought that they fought just because they disliked each other. True, that was an added bonus, but not the real reason for their enmity. But try to get that into Kagome's head. No, of course she had to grow a fondness for that worthless piece of youkai. It was infuriating, having to pull his every punch because she would never forgive that he damaged Kouga permanently. Why couldn't she get into that head of hers that the wolf was _not_ their friend? But every time that jerk came sniffling up her legs, Kagome welcomed him with smiles and warmth. No wonder he always came back for more.  
  
What irked Inuyasha the most was that triumphal grin Kouga always wore before leaving, as if he'd already stolen Kagome but left her under his watch momentarily. Inuyasha felt like shouting that Kouga was stealing nothing from him, that if Kagome ever accepted his proposition it would be _her_ decision and he wouldn't be affected in the least. Yet the words could never leave his mouth before the wolf was long gone. By the time they saw Kouga again, Inuyasha would be deep in battle and too busy to clear the situation, not that it would help anything. As things were, Inuyasha had the feeling he could turn blue telling the truth of his _platonic_ relationship with Kagome yet nobody would hear. It was ridiculous.  
  
Not even their friends respected their privacy. Miroku's and Sango's behaviour was growing in boldness as time went on. When had that happened? Weren't those two around at all hours? How could they actually pay mind to those silly rumours?  
  
Miroku kept trying to ensnare him into an 'adult' talk. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. If he would ever be interested in such a topic, he'd certainly not go to that pervert for advise. Sango's attack was through Kagome, with her constant chatter about commitment and the need thereof. Of course Kagome only nodded and pushed her friend into Miroku's waiting hands. How blind could that girl be? If Kagome looked closer, she'd notice that the wicked grin and big shiny eyes she sported every time Sango and the priest came within a feet of each other were the same they shared inconspicuously when she and Inuyasha spent time on their own.  
  
Inuyasha wasn't forgetting old Kaede and her weighing stares every time he and Kagome entered her hut together. If priest and exterminator went through the _barely_ concealed way, Kaede had no trouble lecturing him about his responsibilities to the 'young girl'. At least the miko had stopped calling her 'helpless'. Inuyasha had laughed hard the first time she called Kagome that. Somehow Kaede had gotten the impression that he was marching to the same tune he'd danced around Kikyo; she even had that list of all the ways Kikyo and Kagome were different. If she recited it once more, Inuyasha was sure he'd scream. Instead he preferred to stay out of her way, sleeping on the tree and getting his own food were small prices to avoid her. And if that old crow felt shunned, well, she deserved it.  
  
Inuyasha needed no list or 'subtle' hints. Did any of those fools actually believe he couldn't tell the differences between Kikyou and Kagome? Even if both were alive, the abysm between them couldn't be deeper. One was soft where the other was guarded, one made wise moves while the other just ran wherever her heart led her... and pulled him right along with her; the bitch.  
  
Sometimes he felt as if the entire world was plotting against him. For months he'd had to stop cruising through the village during boring nights. His hearing had always let him hear the stories mothers told their children at bed. At the beginning they had had him as the half-demon coming to eat them if they didn't behave. Those he had resented but understood, after all, they probably had been telling the same tale for the last fifty years. Everybody had blamed him for Kikyo's death; Inuyasha couldn't really blame them for making him into the bad guy. But later he'd heard the stories change: His role had been taken by Naraku and instead of the Great Miko, 'Inuyasha and _his_ friends' acted as the village's saviours. Even worse, mostly they summarised it down to 'the half-human and his mate', or 'the priestess and her lover'.  
  
Fifty summers ago Inuyasha would have moved heaven and earth for that silent approval. Back then the villagers had been afraid of him, terrified at his involvement with their protector. Now they didn't mind seeing them together; he'd even caught the wistful smiles of the younger women. This was what he'd dreamt about with Kikyo, why couldn't he welcome it now?  
  
Because Kagome wasn't Kikyo. If Inuyasha hadn't had that clear enough, Kagome herself insisted on that repeatedly. Kagome was not the woman of his fantasies, never the memory of lost chances. She was real, tangible, right next to him at his every turn. Kagome was his companion, his partner, his ward and sometimes even his nurse. She was his friend. Why did noone understand that friends were all they were? He had no claim on her. She _certainly_ had no claim on him and if he went running every time she needed help, risking his life and worrying for her flimsy health. Well... That's what friends were for, weren't they?  
  
It was absurd, the whole situation. Even Naraku had known that manipulating Kagome was the most powerful attack at his disposition. That night still bothered Inuyasha, the image of _this_ girl pointing an arrow at him, the fact that she _hadn't_ fired it. How right Naraku had been, knowing before Inuyasha that he was helpless against Kagome, that he would never abandon her. It had left him cold, suddenly having to recognise how entwined they were to the eyes of the world. Every enemy automatically expected that holding Kagome hostage would force Inuyasha to dance to their tune. Damn him if they weren't right. They had been lucky so far, but what if... What if... Fuck. It was mindboggling, how that slip of a girl could cause so many troubles without actually _meaning_ to. In their months together Inuyasha had saved her so many times that he'd already lost count, and how did she repay him? By gluing herself to his arm until their smells intermingled and of course every demon with a nose would think the worse. Stupid bitch, did she have a brain under all that hair?  
  
She did. Maybe that was the worst part. Inuyasha knew she had heard the rumours. But Kagome never commented on them, she just smiled dismissively and changed topics so swiftly that nobody but him noticed the evasion. Why? Maybe she... didn't care? Or was that her way of accepting them? It was so difficult to make a guess without having her opinion. Did Kagome actually _like_ how everybody assumed she belonged to him? She wanted him, that much he knew. He'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to have noticed it. Her every movement gave her away, how her body moulded itself around him without complaints, how she leaned toward him whenever they were together. But did she want him just like Kouga wanted her?  
  
Inuyasha watched her now, running with Shippou down the road. Her laughter reached him and she smiled at him widely when their gazes locked. Shippou called her name but she didn't pay him any attention. Instead it was Inuyasha who broke away first, but the image of her followed him. She was a summer breeze; free, warm and without boundaries. She moved through time itself, no known law applied to her. What had he been thinking? Of course she wouldn't like to be tied down to anything, much less him.  
  
It was at times like this when Inuyasha realised why he didn't like everyone whispering about their relationship. He didn't want the world assuming they were together. He didn't want bedtime stories about their love. He didn't want to be forced into acknowledging the situation.  
  
He only wanted to hear Kagome say that it pleased her too.

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_The End  
13/10/04_

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Comments, suggestions and corrections **_very_** appreciated.


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